Scared
by justwordsandnumbers
Summary: I tried this once before but I didn't like it, so here we go again. This is loosely based off the book 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks. Brittany and Sam have been together for 4 years and Brittany thinks she couldn't be happier, until Santana comes along to remind her what she's been missing out on. Rated M just in case...
1. First Day, Third Job

**First chapter is short. Don't worry the rest won't be. **

**2003 - Lima, Ohio. **

"You're saving for New York." Santana whispered to herself before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door of apartment 19

She was greeted momentarily by a tall blonde man who held out his right hand and grinned, "Hi, I'm Sam. You must be Santana."

Santana shook his hand and gave a small nod.

"Come on in."

Santana followed Sam to the living room and put the bucket of cleaning supplies she was carrying down on the floor. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me." She laughed and scanned the room.

There was a stack of about 50 newspapers and magazines in the center of the coffee table, accompanied by a few coffee cups and spilled coffee stains. The wooden floor was noticeably dusty as was the TV stand and the few picture frames scattered around the room and this was just the living room.

"Yeah," He laughed but blushed a little "Britt and I are quite messy."

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

Sam smiled shyly and sat down on the arm chair in the corner. Santana, unsure of what to do, shot Sam a look as if to say "Well?"

"Oh right, um..." Sam begun, "So I won't be here any other week, I just got this Saturday off to introduce myself and go over some things. Brittany, my girlfriend, she will be here some weeks though, but for days she isn't here there's always a key on top of the door so just let yourself in."

Santana nodded. "OK...Is there anywhere you don't want me to go or anything?"

"Oh no, it's fine. As long as you don't go rooting through my underwear drawer and stealing my boxers." He said jokingly, laughing at himself.

Santana let out a sharp laugh "Oh trust me, you don't have to worry about that."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Um well anyway, I guess I'll get out of your way for a few hours. If I'm not back when your done, here's your money." He handed Santana 25 dollars and headed for the door.

"You do know I could just take this money and not clean?" Santana said bluntly from behind him.

Sam turned around on his heel.

"Oh, your right maybe I should stay." Sam looked at the floor feeling embarrassed.

"I'm kidding! Besides 25 dollars isn't going to get me much, wait until about week 7 then you should be watching me." Santana smirked and bent down to pick up her bucket.

Sam was now more confused than ever, "You are kidding again, right?"

Santana lifted back up and turned to face him.

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes "just go, stop being so paranoid."

"OK then, see you soon." Sam grinned and made is way out the door.

"Jesus Christ." Santana murmured to herself while placing her free hand on her hip, wondering where the hell she should begin.

* * *

After 3 hours of intense cleaning Santana had finally finished. It was a struggle. She thought the living room was bad but once she had seen the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom she wished she would have just stayed there. She didn't understand how two people could be so untidy. It was weird because to look at, Sam didn't look like he lived in a pigsty. And from what she had seen from the few pictures around the house, nor did his girlfriend.

She walked back into the bedroom, the last room she cleaned, to get her polish and rag. She walked over to the bedside table where she had left them and a picture caught her eye. It was of Sam's girlfriend, she assumed it was his girlfriend as she was on all the other pictures around the house with him. She'd noticed the girls obvious beauty on all the other pictures but this one stood out. In the picture, the blonde girl was feeding the ducks in the park, it was took from a distance so the whole of the girls figure could be seen. She was wearing denim shorts so Santana couldn't help but notice her long, toned legs. She looked younger on this picture than all the others, only about 16 or 17, so Santana assumed her and Sam had been together for a while, unless he didn't take this one.

After gawking at the picture for what seemed like to long, Santana made her way back into the living room. She looked around one more time at her handy work and wiped her forehead, silently praying that next week it wouldn't be as messy.

Santana walked towards the door and threw the cloth and polish into her bucket, picked it up and made her way out.

* * *

Santana got home and immediately threw herself on the couch. She was on the couch all of 2 minutes before her mother stormed in.

"Santana! Go get a shower, your sweating all over the couch!" Her mother yelled in her thick spanish accent.

Santana groaned "Mommmm. I've just got home, give me a minute."

"No now! Dinner will be ready soon."

Santana forced herself off of the couch and dragged herself up the stairs to get a shower.

After showering, Santana went down to eat dinner with her parents.

"I told you working 3 jobs would be too much, San." Her mother said shaking her head.

"Well Rachel and Kurt have been in New York for a month now and I have to get over there before they get used to me not being there and don't want me to live with them." She replied.

"You'll get there baby, don't you worry." Her dad added. "And you have tomorrow off right? So you can catch up on your sleep, you look exhausted."

"I am." She sighed.

* * *

When Sam arrived home, Brittany was already there. She was lying on the couch wearing sweats, with her back to Sam.

"Hey." She shouted as he walked in, keeping her eyes glued to the TV.

"Oh my god." Sams eyes widened.

"What?"

"I haven't seen this place so clean since you moved in!"

Brittany reached for the remote and muted the TV. The blonde sat up on the couch and faced Sam.

"I know, right! You should see our bedroom. I found my leg warmers I've been looking for for the past 2 weeks. Well, I didn't, the girl who cleaned obviously did but she put them in my wardrobe and then I found them!"

Sam laughed "Awesome."

"So what's she like?" Brittany asked moving over on the couch for Sam to sit down.

Sam sat down next to her and threw his arm over her shoulder.

"Oh, she's cool. Not what I was expecting though. But then again when she told me she was 18 on the phone last week I wasn't expecting that either. That's like you being a cleaner, which would just be bizarre!" He said shaking his head.

"I would never be a cleaner, I'm too hot for that! Was she gross looking?"

"She wasn't actually, she was really tan and slim, that's why I said she wasn't what I was expecting."

"So she's hot?" Brittany said, sneakily raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing compared to you." Sam said kissing Brittany on the forehead, "What are you watching?"

"It's a documentary," Brittany said unmuting the TV "It's about cheaters!"

Sam groaned "Britttt, documentaries are so boring. Isn't spongebob on?"

Brittany changed the channel without saying anything and rested her head on Sam's shoulder.

"So where have you been for the past few hours? I thought you had the day off work." She asked him

"I did. I went for a beer with Puck and Finn. We were talking to the bar manager about getting us a gig."

"What did he say?"

"He said they don't do live entertainment but he's going to talk to his buddy who owns a bar in Westerville about getting us a few over there."

"Oh, awesome."

"How about you, how was your day?" Sam returned.

"It was fine," She shrugged. "I don't like it when Mike makes me go in on Saturday's though, he might enjoy spending 7 days a week dancing but I sure don't!"

"You can't really complain though, he did you a favor giving you that job when you graduated."

Brittany huffed "I know, I know."


	2. Thanks and you're welcome

It was Friday night. Santana was in her room changing out of her Breadstix uniform into a tight black skirt, purple top and heels. Every Friday, after she'd finished her shift at the restaurant she had only 2 hours to get home, eat, get changed and get to the bar to start her second job of the day.

Santana had three jobs. The first being her waitressing job at Breadstix, which she started at the beginning of her senior year when the idea to move to New York first came about. She started by just working weekends because of school so the pay wasn't good enough to get her enough money to be able to move when Rachel and Kurt did. But since graduating she works Monday to Friday, 1 PM to 6:30 PM. Her second job she got in the middle of her senior year and is a gig singing in a small blues bar every Friday night from 8.30 PM to 1 AM and then, after realizing she needed to get a move on before Kurt and Rachel gave her room away in the apartment they'd just got in New York, she decided to put an ad in the paper offering her services to clean offices or small apartments. An ad which was quickly answered by Sam, giving her three jobs to juggle.

Santana slid on her shoes and checked her watch.

8:03 PM

This meant she had 5 minutes before she had to leave so she checked her emails.

The only one worth reading was from Rachel.

_**From: Rachel Barbra Berry**_  
_**To: Santana Lopez**_  
_**Subject: Where are you?**_

_**SANTANA!**_

_**Me and Kurt need to know when you're getting here!**_

_**We can't afford to keep this apartment for much longer without a third both only have a some of the money our dad's gave us left. We had to pay the first 3 months rent in advance and buy paint and a few other things.**_

_**Kurt just got a job at a coffee shop which is good I guess, but I'm struggling trying to get work.**_

_**I know you're having trouble getting money because your mom and dad can't help but you need to find a way to get the money and get here or we'll have to ask someone else to be our roommate!**_

_**Sorry.**_

_**See you soon.**_

_**Rach and Kurt.**_

_**xxx**_

Santana wrote a quick reply before she had to leave for work.

_**From: Santana Lopez**_  
_**To: Rachel Barbra Berry**_  
_**Subject: RE: Where are you?**_

_**I'm trying my best!**_

_**I need a few more weeks. I've just got a third job. Don't get another roommate yet.**_

_**Going to work now but I'll tell you about everything when I get a chance.**_  
_**See you both soon,**_

_**Santana.**_

Santana hit send, turned off her computer screen, ran downstairs, took her moms car keys off the hook and shouted a quick "Bye" on the way out.

* * *

Santana woke up to the sound of her Dad screaming her name from downstairs.

"WHAT?!" She yelled back.

"It's 10:30! You have work in an hour and a half, come get some food!"

Santana groaned and rolled out of bed and onto the floor.

After eating and quickly showering, Santana put on a pair of jeans, a tank top and a pair of converse. She tied her hair up and headed to Sam's. When she got there, she knocked on the door thinking maybe his girlfriend was home. When no one answered the door she reached to the top of the door and got the key. Santana braced herself as she opened the door, not knowing what to expect.

The door swung open and Santana was shocked. This much mess in one week, seriously? It wasn't as worse as last week obviously, but this looked like a lot more than a weeks worth of mess.

Santana picked her bucket up out of the hallway and slammed the door behind her.

"WHO'S THERE?!" A girl's voice yelled from the bedroom, making Santana jump.

Santana stood open mouthed for a second.

"Uh...I-It's me, Santana, the cleaner?" Santana shouted back.

The bedroom door opened and the girl walked out wearing only a tank top and panties. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Santana.

Santana blushed.

"Oh, um... I'm sorry. Sam said if nobody's home I should use the key on the door and no one answered so I thought no one was home and I-"

"Oh, you're the cleaner! Hi! My name's Brittany!" She said, offering her hand.  
Santana shook it and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Santana."

Brittany gave Santana an innocent smile and walked to the bathroom not caring that she weren't wearing pants.

Santana watched her as she entered the bathroom and then began sorting through the clutter in the living room. She cleared the coffee table that was barely noticeable with the amount of dishes that were on it and then started picking up the clothes scattered along the floor.

She bent down in front of the bathroom door to pick a t-shirt up and just as she did the door opened. Santana's head darted up and she was looking directly at the other girls crotch. Santana's cheeks burned red and she laughed nervously as she jumped up off the floor.

"Wow, sorry I wasn't expecting you to walk out!" She spat out.

Brittany giggled "It's okay."

Santana faced cooled and she looked up at Brittany. Their eyes met. Santana's mouth opened ever so slightly when she noticed the other girls bright blue eyes.

"Do you mind if I watch TV while you clean? I won't move from the couch, I swear." Brittany asked keeping eye contact.

"N-no, that's fine." Santana stammered "But, I'll be vacuuming soon so you mightn't be able to hear it."

"It's fine." Brittany said, dropping her gaze and walking past Santana and towards the TV. She turned the it on and sat on the couch opposite with her legs crossed, flicking through channels.

Santana decided to leave the living room until last so she didn't bother Brittany and started cleaning the dishes in the kitchen.

After finishing up in the kitchen, Santana made her way to the bedroom. She walked through the living room towards the bedroom door and Brittany turned to face her.

"Hey!"

Santana stopped and faced her.

"Did you know that cheetahs have the fastest land speed of any living animal?"

Santana looked in confusion at the girl "What?"

"Cheetahs." Brittany said, "The animal? They have the fastest land speed of any living animal."

"That's...great?" Santana didn't know why the girl was telling her this.

"Yeah!" Brittany said with enthusiasm "This documentary is awesome. I tried to watch it last week but Sam got bored but it's on again so I can watch it!"

"Awesome!" An unexpected smile pierced Santana's lips.

"Yeah! You wanna come and watch it with me?" Brittany asked.

"Uh no, I really shouldn't, I've still got a lot to do."

"Oh right, sorry."

Brittany spun back around on the couch and Santana walked into the bedroom.

Santana was finishing up by mopping the living room floor, Brittany still sat, legs crossed on the couch. Only now she was watching 'One Tree Hill'.

"Do you watch this?" Brittany said turning to Santana.

"No, didn't that only start like last week?"

"Yeah!" Brittany grinned "This is the second episode. It's awesome!"

Santana laughed.

"What's funny?" Brittany frowned.

"Just that it's only 2 episodes in and you think it's awesome."

Santana leaned the mop against the couch and looked at Brittany.

"Well it is! This episode just started, watch it with me! I'll tell you what's happening." Brittany moved over on the couch to make room.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I've got to get home."

Santana looked at the floor. She didn't need to get home, she just felt awkward watching TV with the girl whose house she's cleaning especially while the girl was in her panties.

"Why?" Brittany asked.

"Well, I-"

Brittany cut her off.

"Just watch for 10 minutes so you don't think I'm dumb for saying it's awesome."

"I don't think you're dumb."

Brittany's eyes widened in complete surprise.

"You don't?!"

"Of course not. I don't even know you, why would I think you're dumb?" Santana laughed slightly.

"Most people think I am." Brittany blushed looking away.

Santana didn't really know what to say, Brittany looked so sad all of a sudden and weirdly, Santana didn't like seeing her like this, it almost made her feel sad as well.

"Well, I don't know you very well, but when I think of a dumb person I don't think of someone who watches documentaries."

Brittany grinned and she followed Santana with her eyes as the brunette sat down next to her.

"So, you going to tell me what this show's about?" Santana said raising her eyebrows.

"OK!" Brittany shrugged "So, those 2 guys," she pointed at the TV, "they're step brothers, but their dad abandoned the blonde one so they hate each other and they're both really good at basketball so they're in competition to see who is the best. Oh, and the brown haired one is a jackass and they both like that girl with the curly hair but the one who's a jackass is a jackass to her."

"Wow." Santana shook her head "You said that really quick but I think I got it."

Brittany giggled "Sorry."

The two sat silently through the rest of the episode and only spoke during commercials when Brittany would say things like "See I told you the brown haired one was a jackass!" or "Don't you think the blonde one is hot?"

The latter making Santana feel very awkward.

When it finished Brittany turned to Santana.

"So?" She said raising her eyebrows at the other girl.

"It was good."

Brittany's eyes widened and she tilted her head.

"OK, it was awesome." Santana admitted.

"I TOLD YOU!" The blonde shouted, making Santana laugh.

"So, you're 18, right?"

"Yeah." Santana nodded.

"Me too! I just graduated last month."

"Same."

"So, is cleaning like your dream job?"

She didn't say it mockingly, Brittany was being genuine and Santana could tell.

"What? No! God no. I'm saving to move to New York, so I'm taking anything I can get."

Brittany giggled.

"Well, at least I'm here to make it worth while, right?"

Santana noticed the blatant flirty tone in her voice but thought nothing of it. Instead she just said "Right." and smiled. The brunette suddenly felt like she'd outstayed her welcome, "Well, I better get going, considering I finished cleaning like an hour ago." She said standing up off the couch and carrying the mop over to the bucket on the floor across the room. "

"I'll see you next week then?" Brittany shouted over to her

"I guess you will." the brunette replied.

"Oh, wait!" Brittany jumped up off the couch. "Sam said I have to pay you. I'll be right back."

Santana watched as Brittany skipped into the bedroom, still pant-less She had an amazing legs. They were so long, as she remembered from the picture, only now they looked slightly more muscly.

Brittany came back out of the room holding 25 dollars which she handed to Santana.

"Thanks and you're welcome!" Brittany winked.

Santana squinted

"I'm welcome?"

"Yes, because I showed you how awesome One Tree Hill is!"

They both giggled.

"Well then, thanks! And_ you're_ welcome"

"See you soon, Santana."

Brittany waved.

"Bye, Brittany. See you soon."

Santana gave a sweet smile, turned towards the door and left.

* * *

"Oh hey, you're home." Brittany walked out the bathroom wrapped in a towel, drying her hair with another.

Sam turned his attention from the TV, "Yeah, I shouted you when I got in but you couldn't hear me over the shower."

Brittany sat next to Sam on the couch and put the towel she was using to dry her hair on her knee. "I met Santana today."

"You did?" Sam seemed uninterested, "That's great."

"Yeah, she's really nice. When she finished cleaning she came and talked to me for a bit and we watched TV, it was fun." Brittany said, smiling.

"That's great, Britt." Sam looked back to the TV.

Brittany sighed and stood up of the couch. She grabbed the towel she was wrapped in so it didn't fall off of her and took the other towel she was holding over to the wash basket and threw it in, then made her way to the bedroom shouting "Goodnight" to Sam on the way.

After changing into some pajamas and braiding her hair, Brittany climbed into bed.

She lay there for a while, wide awake. She found herself thinking a lot about Santana and how she had smiled at Brittany a lot that day and how embarrassed she got when Brittany walked out of the bathroom and how she had said "I don't think you're dumb." and how she watched One Tree Hill with Brittany even though at first she didn't really want to and how she was nice, not because she needed to be, because she didn't, but because she wanted to be. Brittany's thoughts took over and without realizing her eyes were shutting and she slipped into a slumber.


	3. I can make you blush too

Santana turned quickly on her heel to the surprise of an aggressive tap on her shoulder. "Table nine, Santana" her boss spat, glaring at her.

"Right on it." She replied, throwing her the most obvious fake smile she could force herself to give.

Santana's boss hated her and the feeling was mutual. Santana didn't like admitting it, but she knew full well that the only reason her boss hated her was because ever since she gave Santana the job all the male attention started getting given to her. Santana hated the attention though, especially when the attention is coming from juniors from her old school saying they know exactly how to "straighten" her out. As far as she was concerned the sooner she got out of that job and out of Lima all together, the better.

Santana picked her notebook off of the counter she was just standing by, pulled the pencil from behind her ear and made her way over to table 9. She reached the table and didn't look up from the paper as she wrote "TABLE 9" in block letters at the top of the page.

"What can I get you guys?" Santana said monotonously. She raised her eyes off the page to see the two familiar blondes sitting in front of her. "Oh, hey Brittany." she said slightly more high pitched and awkward.

The pair looked up from there menus and Brittany grinned.

"Hi Santana!" The girl replied politely.

Santana eyed Brittany and held back a laugh when she realized that this was the first time she'd seen her wearing pants.

"Um, Hi Santana." Sam added, giving a little wave as if to say "I am here you know."

Santana looked at him, "Oh, hey Sam." she said, her voice returning to its normal tone.

She didn't really like Sam, not in the same way she didn't like her boss, she just didn't get him. He was the most gullible person she'd ever met, and not in a cute girl or 7 year old kid sort of way, in a "you're really pissing me off" kind of way. She thought she should give him the benefit of the doubt though considering she'd only met him once. Maybe he was just awkward around new people or something.

"You work here?" Brittany asked, "But I thought you were a cleaner."

"Yeah. I told you I was saving for New York, right?"

"Oh yeah, so you work 2 jobs?"

Santana smiled shyly and shrugged, "3, actually."

"You work 3 jobs?!" Sam gasped, including himself.

"Yep! And I'd really like to keep this one, so you guys should probably order." She said laughing.

After the two of them gave their orders, Santana took them into the kitchen and then proceeded to make drinks for them. After giving them their drinks and telling them their starters shouldn't be long, she went to clear another table.

Santana walked past their table 3 more times before their food was done and each time she did, Brittany gave her a little smirk which Santana returned. When the starters were eventually done she collected them and took them over. Before she had the chance to walk away Brittany stopped her.

"Santana! Santana, tell him. Isn't One Tree Hill sooo good?" Brittany looked at Santana wide eyed until she answered.

Santana laughed "Yeah, it's great, I've only seen like one episode but yeah it was good."

"See!" Brittany said to Sam sticking her tongue out, then turned to look back at Santana, "Thanks. He kept saying it was stupid."

Santana just laughed again. She found Brittany adorable, like a little baby you never want to put down. Except Brittany was like a hot baby. With really nice legs. "Enjoy your meal, I'll be back soon." She said turning and walking away.

Sam watched Santana walk away and as soon as she got at a far enough distance he turned to Brittany.

"You're so weird, Britt."

Brittany's face dropped as she looked up from her bowl of soup.

"What? Why?"

"You're treating the girl like you've known her for years, she's going to think we're crazy." Sam spoke as polite as he could, but he was being serious.

Brittany frowned "No she won't, she's a nice person she would never think that. I only asked her because she was the one who I watched the show with! Duh."

Brittany looked down and took another spoonful of soup.

He spoke more sternly now, "Look, all I'm saying is, she cleans our apartment, she's not our friend."

Brittany sighed, "Well, she's not your friend, but she is mine."

* * *

Santana got home at around 7:45. She didn't speak to Brittany and Sam much the rest of the night she kind of just served them their main and dessert and let them be. She was so exhausted. She felt like she hadn't had a day off in weeks and it was only Tuesday. She ate half of the pasta her mom had made her and went straight up to bed.

The following morning, Santana woke up early and was so glad. It gave her time to take a long shower, eat a proper meal and email Rachel. Her mom and dad were both at work so she made herself some pancakes and ate them in her room while she scrolled through her emails. Surprisingly, there wasn't one from Rachel but she still sent her one just to let her know what was going on.

**_From: Santana Lopez_**

**_To: Rachel Barbra Berry_**

**_Subject: Hey_**

**_Hey Dwarf,_**

**_I actually have time to email you today so I'll tell you what's been going on._**

**_I got another job cleaning an apartment. I apologize that's its taking me so long to get the money together but I just want to make sure I have enough to last mein case I can't get a job straight away. Get off my back about it anyway, we don't all have rich daddy's and an 'emergency credit card' like you and Kurt. I'm trying my best, okay. Give me, at most, 6 more weeks and I'll be there. _**

**_So anyway, what's the apartment like? Do I have my own room? I don't have to share with you and Kurt do I? How's Nyada? _**

**_I'll try and email you as much as I can but I'm so busy lately I can barely find the time to breathe. _**

**_Say hey to Kurt for me._**

**_Love, Santana._**

Santana sent the email and started getting ready for work. The good thing about Breadstix was that it was within walking distance of her house. Her mom worked Monday to Friday until 7 so Santana couldn't use her car through the week, meaning she would've had to waste money getting a taxi everyday if it was too far a walk.

* * *

Brittany started her day a lot more slow paced than Santana. She got up at 12 to an empty house because Sam had already left for work hours before. She dragged herself out of bed and headed for the couch. She watched TV for 2 hours and ate a bowl of cheerios before taking a quick shower and getting ready for work.

When Brittany graduated, Mike, a friend of her and Sam, gave her a job in his dance school. Mike and Sam were close friends in school and they were both 2 years older than Brittany. When Brittany started dating Sam when she was a freshman and he was a junior, Sam introduced them and they became really close friends. They would spend hours on end choreographing routines together and Mike promised Brittany that if he had opened a dance school by the time she had graduated he would give her a job. A year after graduating Mike had raised enough money to get himself a small space in central Lima for his dance studio and kept to his promise by giving Brittany a Monday - Friday job teaching 10-14 year old's while he taught the older kids.

Brittany stepped into her sweats, forced her feet into her still laced sneakers and headed out. She got to work 20 minutes early, as always, and started warming up. Dancing was Brittany's favourite thing in the world. It was her release. It was the only thing she had ever really been serious and passionate about. If she was ever sad about something or had ever had a fight with Sam or had something on her mind she would go to the studio, put on the perfect song and just dance. Today was one of those days. She had had a restless night for a reason unbeknownst to her and just felt like letting loose. She turned the CD player on and started dancing. She took the music in, switched her brain off, closed her eyes and let her body take over. She moved so gracefully. Dancing came so naturally to her and she looked so beautiful when she was doing it.

Before she knew it, kids started piling in, bringing her back to reality. Brittany wiped her forehead and cleared her throat. "OK guys," she already felt a lot better, "take your usual positions, we're gonna do a few warm up exercises then jump right into the routine we started last week!" A huge smile formed on her face as she watched the group of very excited 12 year old's, not unlike herself at one point, take their positions.

* * *

When Saturday came around Santana was so grateful that it was her last and easiest day of the week. She had just finished getting dressed and made her way downstairs, she didn't have to leave for another 10 minutes so went to talk to her Mom who was doing laundry in the kitchen.

"Hey Mom."

"Oh, hi honey." she looked up at Santana, "You look happy today."

"Yeah, it's Saturday! Once I've finished cleaning today, I get the rest of the day and all of tomorrow to just relax and do nothing."

Santana walked over to the table and started helping her Mom fold the pile of clothes.

"I wish you didn't have to work so much, Mija. You know if there was anything I could do to help you get this money I would do it, right?"

"Mom, I know, you've told me. And trust me, you letting me use your car on Friday nights and Saturday is all the help you need to give me. I don't want to trouble you and Dad."

"You could never trouble us." She sighed, we're going to miss you so much when you go to New York."

Santana walked over to her Mom and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm going to miss you too Mom. I gotta go to work now, I love you."

Santana's Mom squeezed her tight "I love you too baby, see you soon."

* * *

Brittany had just finished getting dressed when Santana knocked. She was wearing skinny jeans and a light pink crop top. She opened the door and smiled to the brunette who stood in front of her holding her red mop bucket in both hands. She noticed as the girls eyes shot down to her stomach and started admiring her abs.

Brittany giggled "Hey, come in."

Santana's cheeks turned pink as she followed the blonde into the living room. "So, you're wearing pants this week." She said laughing at herself.

Brittany stopped and turned back around to face her, "Excuse me?"

Santana's face dropped, thinking she'd offended her "Oh, I was just saying how last week you spent the whole day in your panties." She let out a nervous laugh, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way."

Brittany shook her head, "No I'm not offended, I just didn't think that it would make you uncomfortable."

"It didn't, I actually thought it was funny how it didn't make you at all uncomfortable."

Brittany smiled, "Why would it make me uncomfortable? I got some good legs." She raised an eyebrow and turned to walk to the couch.

"Yes you do." Santana said under her breath and then realized that she hadn't even noticed how much cleaner the living room was today. "Wow, it's a lot cleaner in here than usual."

"It is?" Brittany shouted over from the couch.

"Yeah, there's like no clothes on floor. I'm surprised."

Brittany looked around the room, "Yeah I guess. I started putting my clothes in the wash basket."

"Really? What made you start doing that?" Santana asked curiously.

Looking over her shoulder at Santana, Brittany said, "I don't even know. To be honest I didn't even realize I had been doing it until you pointed it out."

Santana didn't say anything and Brittany turned to look back at the TV. Santana wondered if she'd had some kind of subconscious influence on the other girl. She couldn't possibly right? Brittany had only been there once while she was cleaning.

"So anyway, I'm going to do in here first and then I'll be out of your way." Santana said.

"OK, cool."

Santana started with the back of the room and worked her way forward. When she got to the front of the living room things between her and Brittany were awkward for a few minutes. Neither of them really knew each other so they had nothing to talk about. The tension between them was soon broke when Brittany started polite conversation.

"So, did you grow up around here?"

"Yeah, not too far from here. You?"

"Yeah me too, my parents live a few blocks away. How don't we know each other then?"

Santana starting picking plates and bowls up off the coffee table that was in front of Brittany.

"How do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, you know, we're both the same age and we both live around here, you'd think we would. What high school did you go to?"

"Um, I went to McKinley, you know it?" Santana looked down at the stack off plates she was holding, "let me just take these into the kitchen and I'll be right back."

She returned and started polishing over the coffee table. Brittany continued were they left off, "Yeah I know McKinley, Sam and I went to Carmel High."  
"Oh yeah I know Carmel, a kid named Jesse who went there dated a friend of mine once."

Brittany leaned forward towards Santana who was on her knees wiping dust from the TV stand, "Wait!" she said. "Do you mean Jesse St. James?"

Santana looked up. "Yeah, why? You know him?"

"Yeah! Sam and his friend Mike absolutely hated that guy. They were in the same grade and ever since freshman year they'd had like this rivalry."

Santana looked at Brittany astonished "Small world, huh? I don't know how we never crossed paths."

"I know."

"So, Sam's older than you, right?"

"Yeah, two years. We started dating when I was a freshman. He was a football player and I was a cheerleader. So that's how we met."

Santana forced herself to not look too disgusted by their cliche of a relationship and just smiled. "That's sweet." She finished cleaning over the last of the picture frames hanging on the wall and threw the cloth over her shoulder. "Well I'm pretty much done in here, I'll mop around when I've done the other rooms. You can watch all the TV you want now without being interrupted." She gave an airy laugh.

"Cool. Make sure you're done before 3 though." Brittany winked.

Santana blushed and put her head down when she felt her face burn, "Uh... Why? What's at 3?" She said rubbing her eye, trying to hide her rosy cheeks.  
Brittany giggled, "One Tree Hill! The new episode gets repeated every Saturday at 3. I didn't watch it when it aired this time so we could watch it together for the first time."

Santana's face wasn't cooling down, Brittany made her so shy for some reason. Which was weird because she was usually the one intimidating people, not the other way around. "You didn't have to do that."

Santana was glad she did though. She was secretly happy that she got to spend more time getting to know Brittany and that Brittany actually wanted to spend more time with her too.

"I wanted to. We had fun last week..." Brittany tilted her head, "Right?"

Santana was pretty sure her face wasn't bright red anymore and finally looked at Brittany, "Yeah, absolutely. I better get started in the kitchen then. If I want to be finished by 3, that is." She smirked.

Brittany eyes lit up, "Get to it then." she winked again, sending Santana speeding off into the kitchen before she turned into a tomato.

2 hours later, Santana was finishing up in the bathroom.

"Hurry up! It's starting." Brittany yelled.

"OK! Give me a minute." Santana ran in with the mop in hand, "I just need to mop around here and then we can watch while the floor dries."

"Great, do it quick!"

Santana mopped around the living room quickly and hopped on the couch next to Brittany.

"I can't believe your making me sit here covered in sweat for an hour, _again_." Santana moaned looking at Brittany.

"You look better than I did last week."

Santana scoffed.

"Are you kidding me? If I looked half as good as you when I'd just woke up I wouldn't be complaining." Santana smiled when she noticed that Brittany's cheeks were going pink.

Brittany giggled "Aw, thanks."

The two of them turned their heads to the TV to watch the show. When the commercials came on Brittany turned to Santana.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking," Santana faced her, "what's your other job?"

Santana was pretty hesitant about answering, she always got embarrassed when she told people she sang. A lot of time they would pressure her into singing and she hated that. "Uh...I work in a bar."

"A bar? Aren't you a little young?" Brittany furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well yeah, I mean, I don't serve drinks or anything. I just, you know... Sing."

"You can sing?!" Brittany's eyes widened "Wow! So that's why you're going to New York, to be a singer!"  
Santana smiled shyly and shrugged, "Well, that's the plan."

"That's amazing."

Santana was so embarrassed. She cleared her throat and they were both quiet for a few minutes.

"So anyway, little miss twenty questions," Santana said breaking the silence, "what about you? What do you do?

Brittany shrugged "Well, technically I'm a dance teacher. But I don't call myself a dance teacher, it's not like I'm qualified or anything."

"Oh, don't be so modest!" Santana pushed Brittany's shoulder. "I'm sure, with legs like that, you're amazing."

Brittany giggled and looked away to hide her face.

"Awww, look at you hiding 'cause you're blushing." Santana mocked.

Brittany threw her head back and groaned "Stopppp, you're embarrassing me!"

"I'm sorry" Santana said through her laughter.

"You do realize we've just missed a full part of the episode." Brittany pointed out.

"No we haven't," Santana said looking at the TV "the commercials are still on."

"Santana, you goof, these are new commercials we spoke through the other ones. Now we don't know what's going on!" Brittany frowned.

"I'm sure it will be on again before the next episode airs."

"But we're supposed to watch it together."

Brittany made the most adorable sad face ever and Santana just couldn't resist. She placed a hand on the girls knee and looked her in the eyes.

"Hey, it's fine. Why don't you watch this episode next time it's on, for both of us, and you can catch me up next Saturday before we watch the next one and then we'll make sure that every Saturday we watch it. It can be like our thing."

"_Our thing_." Brittany repeated, grinning.

Santana took her hand off Brittany's knee and inhaled deeply "Uh, I think I'm gonna take off. I haven't seen my Mom or Dad a lot lately so I really want to spend the evening with them." Brittany mimicked Santana by standing up off of the couch and Santana's eyes shot straight to her abs that had been revealed as she stood up. "Oh...My...God"

Brittany followed Santana's eyes and looked down at her own stomach "What?"

Santana shook her head, "Oh sorry, I was, um... daydreaming."

Brittany's eyes narrowed.

"Oh right, well here's your money." She said reaching into her back pocket. "The place looks great, Santana, thanks a lot."

They smiled at each other, Santana took the money and Brittany walked her over to the door. Santana bent down and picked her bucket up while Brittany opened the door.

"See you next week, Brittany." Santana said sliding past her and out the door, she turned back around to face Brittany before walking off.

Brittany smirked mischievously. "I can make you blush too, Santana." She said winking, yet again, at the other girl and giggling. "See you soon."


	4. Britt

It was Monday morning. Brittany rolled onto her side and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 10.53 AM. She rubbed her eyes, jumped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

Brittany had spent the rest of her weekend with Sam. He got home from work at around 6 and they spent the evening watching TV and then spent Sunday lounging around, playing video games. They didn't ever do much else, they kind of just spent all their time together being dorky and weird. Everyone always told them that they were the same person but in different bodies so they were the perfect match, which Brittany didn't understand because she always thought that opposites were supposed to attract. She did love Sam though, other than the fact that she liked books and documentaries and he liked sports and cartoons, they basically liked all the same things.

Brittany stood looking in the mirror. She watched as water dripped from her chin. She rubbed under her eyes and tried to get rid of the bags. She had another restless night last night, she still didn't know why this was happening, she would just lay there tossing and turning all night. She thought about Santana a lot, which confused her. Maybe it was just because most of Brittany's other friends had moved away to go to college and she was finally making a new one. But Santana wasn't like any of her other friends and she acted different with Santana. No one had ever made her blush just by complimenting her, but Santana did. No one had ever actually tried to get to know her outside of her relationship with Sam, but Santana did. And no one, not even Sam, had ever given her tingles just by touching her, but Santana did. Brittany didn't know what was going on and she didn't know how to feel about it. All she knew was that she really liked Santana and wanted to be her friend, so that's what she would do.

* * *

Santana groaned. Her alarm clock was ringing in her ear. She hated that alarm clock. It reminded her that it was Monday morning. It reminded her that it was 11 AM and she had to be at work in 2 hours and it reminded her that the dream she just woke up from was nothing more than just a dream. Santana groaned again and pulled herself out of bed and into the bathroom to shower.

Santana arrived at work 2 hours later and was greeted by her friend, Mercedes, at the door. She met Mercedes last year when she started working at Breadstix and they became instant friends. Mercedes was a few years older than Santana and acted like an older sister towards her. Anytime she ever needed help with anything, Santana always went to her.

"Hey girl!" Mercedes said, grinning. "What's up?"

"Hey. Not much." Santana replied.

The two walked into the back room of the restaurant to hang up their bags and coats and clock in. They both retrieved a pen and notebook from a shelf and made their way back in. It was always quite quiet at this time in the day so they had a while to talk. Santana was made to take over the phone reservations at the front desk, so Mercedes went with her.

Santana stood at the podium and Mercedes stood opposite. "So how was your weekend?" Santana asked.

"It was good, Shane and I went out on Saturday and I got soooo drunk!" They both laughed as Mercedes continued to tell Santana about her wild weekend. "...Then, I met up with my friend Tina, and when the two of us get together and we're drunk, it's just insane!" She brought her story to an end and turned her attention to the Santana, "So anyway, what did you get up too?"

Santana shook her head and laughed a little, "Oh trust me, it's nothing exciting. After I'd finished cleaning on Saturday I spent the rest of the weekend with my parents. Lame right?"

"You mean, after you'd finished cleaning hot little blonde girl's house?" Mercedes smirked.

Santana blushed, "You said you wouldn't make fun of me because of that!"

She had recently told Mercedes about Brittany, it was the first person she'd told. She didn't say much, just that she thought Brittany was hot and sweet and had nice legs - she couldn't not mention the legs.

Mercedes laughed "I can't help it! The girl sounds completely different to anyone you've ever liked...well since I've known you."

Santana stayed quiet for a minute and scratched the back of her neck.

Mercedes eyed her and frowned. "What aren't you telling me?"

Santana scoffed, "What are you talking about?"

"Girl," Mercedes said raising an eyebrow. "I've known you long enough now to know when you're being weird with me, now tell me what's you're thinking about!"

"God, Mom!" Santana joked, rolling her eyes, "It's nothing."

"Well then if it's nothing you can tell me."

"Uh," She took a deep breath, "I kind of... had an um..." Her hands cupped together and she started fiddling with her fingers. "I had a dream about her last night, OK!" She spat out.

Mercedes burst out laughing and Santana's face dropped.

"What's funny about that?"

"You don't mean like a dirty dream, do you?!" Her voice was raised.

"Jesus Christ, Mercedes! Keep your fucking voice down!" Santana lowered her voice "No, I don't mean a dirty dream. It was nothing, we was like on a date and we kissed. That's all!" She shrugged.

"Awww, you've got it bad! And you've only known the girl all of five minutes."

She joked, knowing it was annoying Santana.

Santana was relieved when the phone in front of her started to ring.

"Go and clean a table or something, Mercedes, I've got to answer this!"

Mercedes got the hint and walked away, laughing to herself. Santana let out a breath and answered the phone.

* * *

Brittany threw her bag in the back seat of her car and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had just polished a new routine with the kids and was in need of a cold drink. She drove a few blocks to the Lima Bean and ran inside to avoid the rain. The queue, as always, was almost out the door, Brittany couldn't really be bothered waiting and was just about to leave as she spotted a familiar face near the front of the line.

"Mind if I cut?" She said, leaning into Santana's ear, making her jump.  
Brittany giggled.

"Oh, hi!" Santana's eyes widened. "Yeah, sure."

Brittany moved in closer beside Santana. "Thanks." She smiled "You just finished work?"

Santana nodded, "Yeah, thank God!"

"Me too, I'm practically dying. I was so glad when I seen you and didn't have to wait at the end of this line!"

Santana laughed a little. They reached the front and ordered their drinks. Brittany a Caramel Frappachino and Santana a Caramel Macchiato. Santana waited for Brittany order and they both walked around to other side of the counter to wait for their drinks.

"Is your car outside?" Brittany asked.

Santana shook her head, "No, my Mom's got her car today so I walk. I only came here because it's raining and I didn't want to walk home in it, so I'm gonna wait in here until it goes off."

"I can wait with you, if you want. I haven't got to rush home for anything." Brittany offered.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that."

"Well, I don't want to leave you alone in here. There's a lot of people in here and you're just going to look like a completely loner." She joked. "What harm can it do?"

Santana giggled, "OK, fine."

When the two girls had collected their drinks they made their way over to a small table and sat facing each other. Brittany looked up at Santana and smiled.

"So," She said taking a sip of her drink "what job did you just come from? You have so many, it's hard to keep track."

Santana laughed.

"Breadstix. I work there Monday to Friday, then I sing on Friday nights and then clean some chick's house on Saturdays." She smirked as she lifted her cup to her mouth.

"Ohhh," Brittany raised her eyebrows, "So that's how it is?"

"Mhm, that's right."

They both laughed and simultaneously sipped their drinks.

Santana cleared her throat, "What about you, slacker?"

"What about me?"

"Well, what days do you work?"

"Oh, Monday to Friday, four thirty to six thirty."

"Damn! That must be hard!" Santana replied, sarcastically.

"Hey! I work Saturdays sometimes too, with the older kids." Brittany said trying to redeem herself.

"God! I hope you got a raise for that!" Santana kept her sarcastic tone.

Brittany put her head down and giggled, "You bitch!"

They both went quiet for a bit and finished off their drinks.

Santana put her empty cup down on the table in front of her, "So um, what does Sam do?"

Brittany mouth dropped slightly, she was enjoying having a conversation that didn't involve Sam for once. For four years she had spent more time answering questions about her relationship than she had ever telling people about herself. She hated that. Everyone who had met her after she started dating Sam thinks she's nothing but a dumb blonde girl with a hot boyfriend.

"He's a personal trainer." She said blandly.

"Oh, nice. So he works all week with different people then?" Santana tried to act interested in what Sam did, even though she could care less.

"Yeah, he has a lot of clients. So he works every day of the week except Tuesday and Sunday. His hours can change though, people cancel or add extra lessons sometimes."

"Oh cool." Santana realized that Brittany weren't the least bit interested in talking about Sam's career so she didn't ask anything else about him. She turned to look out the window and the rain still hadn't gone off. She turned back to look at Brittany who was looking down at her phone. "It's crazy isn't it?"

Brittany's head shot up, "Huh? What is?"

"The way we've lived so close all these years and never met and now we know each other, we just run into each other while I'm at work and in the coffee shop." A slight smile appeared on Santana's lips.

Brittany leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand, "I know. Well, maybe we did see each other and we just didn't realize because we didn't know each other."

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered that face." She said gazing at the blonde, "And your laugh."

Brittany blushed and the hand she was leaning on moved to the middle of her face in an attempt to hide her cheeks. Santana, realizing what she said, tried to save herself.

"I'm just kidding!" She laughed awkwardly "That sounded so creepy, right?"

"It was quite cute actually." Brittany replied with a wink, making the other girl blush.

Santana covered her face and muffled through her hands, "You bitch!"

Brittany sniggered. "You deserved that." Brittany watched as Santana's cheeks started to cool down. "So, how was your weekend with your parents?" She asked.

"It was good, I'm trying to spend as much time with them as possible before I go, you know? Do you see your parents much?"

Brittany shrugged, "Probably not as much as they'd like but I go and see them when I can. I'm actually spending Sunday with them because my sister's coming home."

Santana's eyebrows raised, "Oh! You have a sister?"

"Yep." The blonde nodded, "She's 23. She moved to California when she was 18 to go to college and ended up staying there with her boyfriend, so I don't see her very often."

"Oh, that sucks. Are you guys close?"

"We was, I guess. She was like my best friend. But we're not like that anymore. I only see her on special occasions mostly."

"Oh." Santana turned her attention to the window again when she couldn't hear the rain anymore. "It's stopped raining."

The other girl also turned to look at the window, "Oh yeah, guess there's no reason to stay here anymore then."

Santana sighed and turned back around to face Brittany. "You're right, let's go."

They made their way to out the door and stopped by Brittany's car. Brittany put her hands in the pockets of her sweats and turned to face the brunette.

"Well, I had fun, Santana." She said. She was swinging her hips side to side and biting her bottom lip.

"Me too." Santana said nodding. "I guess I'll see you Saturday?"

"Yep."

Brittany took her hands out of her pockets and inhaled deeply before swinging her arms around the other girl and pulling her in for a hug. Santana returned the gesture by placing her hands on the blondes back. They both pulled away together and Brittany looked down into Santana's eyes and smiled again.

"Bye, Santana. See you soon."

Santana smiled back, "Bye, Brittany." She said, then turned on her heel and walked away.

Brittany watched her walk away for a few seconds and then turned to let herself into the car. She hopped in the front seat, closed the door and rested her head on the wheel in front of her. A huge breath escaped the girl's mouth that she didn't even realize she had been holding. She lifted her head back up off of the wheel, put her key into the ignition, started up the car and drove home.

* * *

"Britt! Guess what?!" Sam yelled as he burst through the front door with the widest grin on his face.

Brittany stood up off the couch and turned towards him. "What?"

"Finn, Puck and I finally got a gig!"

Brittany's eyes widened in disbelief "What? Where?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when I told you the guy from the bar was going to talk to his buddy in Westerville about getting us a gig?" Sam said unzipping his coat.

"Yeah."

Sam threw his coat over the arm chair in the corner and walked closer to Brittany.

"Well he got in touch with him and the guy agreed to meet us!"

Brittany smiled, "Wow Sam, that's great." She weren't as enthusiastic about the whole thing as Sam was. "When?"

"In two weeks. We have to go down there on Friday and play him a few songs from our set and if he likes us we play a full set on Saturday for an audience. It's nothing big, but at least it's something."

Sam leaned in to kiss Brittany but she pulled away.

"What's wrong, Brittany?" Sam sighed.

Brittany shook her head, "Nothing."

"Yes there is! You've been acting like this since Monday and I know it's not because my lips are chapped this time, because I've gone through four chap sticks this week."

Brittany chewed her bottom lip and looked down, "It's not your lips, Sam. I'm just not in the mood for...that."

"For what, Brittany?!" His voice was getting progressively louder, "I only wanted to kiss you!"

"Sam leave me alone. I'm just not in the mood for that today, OK? I'm really happy for you and the guys but just leave me alone...Please." Brittany looked down again, "I'm gonna go to bed, OK?"

"No Brittany. You tell me what's the matter with you." He grabbed her by the wrist so she couldn't walk away.

"I don't know, Sam. My heads all over the place at the minute. Just let me go to bed."

She tried to pull away, but he held tighter.

"Brittany, I'm trying to help you!"

Brittany had no idea where this argument had just come from.

"I don't need your help, I need to go to sleep!" She said, raising her voice.

"Brittany just tell me what I've done. You've refused to kiss me all week, you toss and turn all night in bed, I don't know what I've done wrong."

"Jesus Christ, Sam! You haven't done anything wrong, it's just me! Everyone's allowed to have a bad day!"

"But you haven't been having a bad day have you, Brittany? You've been like this for days and it's pissing me off having to come home to this."

He let go off her wrist and she just stood there.

"Look, Brittany." Sam exhaled, calming himself down. "Just go to bed and we'll deal with whatever this is tomorrow, because you're really spoiling the good mood I was in."

Brittany blinked and a single tear rolled down her cheek, "I'm sorry." She mouthed to him, and made her way to the bedroom, picking his coat up off the chair on the way past to hang it up.

Brittany lay in bed and couldn't get the fact that it was Saturday tomorrow out of her head. Actually, it had been in her head since Monday. She didn't know why but she always thought about Santana. At first, she didn't think much of it. But now it made her feel guilty. She felt guilty because she used to look forward to spending the weekend with Sam, but ever since Santana came along all she looks forward to is watching TV with her and watching her blush and the possibility that she could run into her in the mall. She was losing sleep over someone she'd only spoke to four times. Not only that, this someone, was a girl. A girl with amazing, long brown hair. A girl with a raspy voice that made her spine tingle. A girl with a touch that made her legs turn to jelly. But, a girl. Brittany picked the pillow next to her up and pressed it to her face in an attempt to get rid of her thoughts and eventually, after hours of trying, Brittany fell asleep.

* * *

Santana was woken up early to the sound of a car alarm outside. She ran downstairs and was greeted by her dad.

"Don't worry baby, it's not ours." He said laughing.

"Well you never know, this is Lima Heights, someone could be carjacking us." She replied, laughing too.

Her father pulled her in for a hug.

"Your mother's made some breakfast, why don't you go get some?"

Santana pulled away from him and nodded before making her way to the kitchen.

"Hey Mom." She said through a yawn.

"Good morning, Mija. Did the car wake you up? I was hoping you'd have a sleep in."

"No, it's fine. At least I'll sleep well tonight."

Santana took a seat at the table and her mother put a plate of pancakes in front of her and sat down. Santana rubbed her eyes and started chopping up her pancakes.

"So, have you heard anything from Rachel and Kurt?"

"No," Santana mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes. "I haven't had time to check my emails, but while I've got the time before work today, I will. I'll let you know what she says."

Her mother smiled at her, "OK, Mija."

Santana finished off her pancakes and did exactly what she said she would by going to check her emails.

She had two, both from Rachel.

The first read:

**_To: Santana Lopez_**  
**_From: Rachel Barbra Berry_**  
**_Subject: RE: Hey_**

**_Santana, was the dwarf comment really necessary?_**

**_Anyway, Kurt and I are both glad to hear that you've almost got the money together and don't worry your room is safe. _**

**_Yes, you do have your own room. We got the cheapest 3 bedroom apartment we could, it's in Bushwick. But, because you weren't here to pick a room, you got the smallest. And it's really small. You can't even fit a closet in there, so you can share mine. I got the biggest room, because well, I'm me. Actually, me and Kurt flipped a coin, but whatever._**

**_Nyada's going really well! Kurt and I both love all of our classes. My dance teacher's a bitch but that's the least of my worries to be honest._**

**_We do miss you Santana and we can't wait to see you._**

**_Love you lots. _**

**_Rachel and Kurt. xoxo_**

Santana rolled her eyes, she didn't care about her room size that much, as long as she got to New York, nothing else mattered.

She opened the next email from Rachel before replying. It read:

_**To: Santana Lopez**_  
_**From: Rachel Barbra Berry**_  
_**Subject: Checking in, it's Kurt**_

_**Hey Santana, it's Kurt**_

_**Rachel made me email you using her account because she's a freak.**_

_**I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I haven't spoke to you directly yet so I thought I'd better.**_

**_I met a guy recently. His name's Blaine and he goes to Nyada._** _**But that's not important right now. **_

_**What have you been doing? Other than working. **_

_**How's your life been?**_

_**Can't wait to hear from you again.**_

_**Try not to work yourself to hard, San. **_

_**See you soon, I miss you.**_

_**Love, Kurt.**_

Santana welled up. The email was only short but it was so touching. Her and Kurt had never exactly been close, so the email came as a shock to her. They did have a lot in common, though. They had been through a lot of the same things in high school. Kurt came out when he was a lot younger than Santana, but he understood what she was going through and he helped her get through it. She was actually more grateful to Kurt than she gave him credit for. She read over the email twice more before replying.

_**To: Rachel Barbra Berry**_  
_**From: Santana Lopez**_  
_**Subject: RE: Checking in, it's Kurt**_  
_**Well, well, well, Kurt Hummel. Who knew you'd have me reaching for my handkerchief!**_

_**It's great to hear from you, Kurt.**_

_**I'm glad Nyada's going well for you both, and I'm happy to hear you've finally met a guy. I was beginning to think you were going to be a virgin your whole life, hahaha.**_

_**My life's pretty much like a broken record lately. **_

_**I did meet someone though. I'm not going into massive detail. But, she's blonde, she has amazing legs and she's hot. But nothing can come of it. She's straight, taken and I'm moving in 5 weeks. So I guess I'll just have to get over my little crush.**_

_**Anyway, get back to me when you can.**_

_**Miss you guys, see you both soon.**_

_**Love, Santana.**_

Santana sent the message and went to shower.

Brittany woke up that morning in a worse mood than what she went asleep in. She woke up before Sam but lay there until he got up and pretended to still be asleep when he did because she didn't want to have to face talking to him. When he finally left for work, Brittany got herself out of bed and went to brush her teeth and shower.

Santana took a deep breath before knocking on Brittany's door. She wondered for a second what Brittany might be wearing this week. She was pleasantly surprised when Brittany answered the door and weren't showing much skin. She had on a pair of skinny jeans and a tight pink t shirt with a picture of a unicorn in the middle. Her hair was down and wavy today and looked amazing.

Santana smiled.

"That top is adorable!" She said following Brittany inside. She looked around and was again surprised to see that the house was getting progressively cleaner every time she went. There were less than a few dishes around and there were literally no clothes on the floor, however, the wash basket was over flowing so Santana figured she would have to do at least two rounds of washing.

Brittany walked over to the couch and didn't reply to Santana's compliment, she didn't actually say anything at all. Santana cleared her throat and put her bucket on the floor. Brittany still didn't acknowledge her, instead she lay on her side on the couch staring at the blank TV screen. Santana left her alone. She picked up the wash basket, carried it into the kitchen and began sorting the clothes into piles on the floor, separating the dark colored clothes from the lights and then put the first load of dark's into the washing machine and started on the dishes.

Santana made sure to do every other room before the living room to give Brittany some space. She assumed that the reason Brittany was acting like this was because of Sam, but she didn't say anything. When she eventually got around to doing the living room, Brittany still lay in the same position, staring at the TV screen. Santana avoided looking at her and she began cleaning the front part of the room.

There was an awkward silence for the whole time Santana cleaned, Brittany didn't look at her once and she hadn't even mentioned watching One Tree Hill yet. Santana finished up by vacuuming the living room and the bedroom and then mopping through the whole house. It was 2:23 at this point and she didn't know whether Brittany wanted her to stay this week or not. She tiptoed her way across the living room, trying her best not to leave too many footprints on the damp wooden floor. She reached the couch and stood over the other girl. She leaned over and tapped Brittany on the foot. Brittany responded by curling her legs up, giving Santana room to sit down.

"You going to tell me what's the matter?" Santana said crossing her legs and twiddling her hands on her lap.

Brittany shrugged, "I'll tell you when I figure it out myself." She returned, softly.

"Well, maybe talking about it will help you figure it out, right?"

The blonde exhaled and sat up, she held her knees to her chest and sat facing the other girl. Santana mimicked what she did and leaned on the opposite arm of the couch, facing Brittany.

Brittany twirled her hair in her index finger and still didn't look at Santana.

"Sam and I had a fight last night." She began, "I don't even know why, it came completely out of nowhere, but it was my fault."

"What were you fighting about?" Santana asked.

"I don't even know." The room was silent and both girls were speaking in hushed tones. "He came home to tell me this great news about how him and these guys he's in a band with had gotten a gig out of town in two weeks. I wasn't being as happy about it as he wanted me to be, I guess, so he snapped."

"You weren't happy for him?"

Santana looked over at Brittany who was still looking down at her hair as she twirled it in her fingers.

"Of course I was happy for him. I just didn't feel like acting happy, if that makes any sense."

Santana frowned, "Well, why?"

Brittany looked up at Santana.

"Look," She spoke sternly. "I don't know why, OK. It's just..." She paused, trying to decide how to word what she wanted to say. "Like... Do you ever feel like your life is just passing you by and you're not doing anything with it?"

"Britt, we're 18. We have years to figure everything out."

Brittany couldn't help but smile. Santana had just called her 'Britt'. The smile didn't last long, though. Her face dropped again when she started speaking.

"Then why do I feel like I'm the only person not going anywhere? All of my old friends went off to college, you're moving to New York soon, Sam already has himself a career as a personal trainer and his music career is slowing setting off and I'm just here, going through life in the shadows of everyone else, not really getting what I want, not really doing what I want to do."

Santana stomach turned, she always thought Brittany was this little ball of light that could never be sad, but in reality she was just as lost and sad as everyone else.

"You can do whatever you want to do, nothing is stopping you."

Brittany exhaled. "You don't get it. It's not just about having a career or a future. It's about everything. It's just lately I feel like my life has been the same. For four years, I've been with Sam. And it's been great, but we don't do anything. I barely even see him lately because he's out all the time and when I do see him we just lay around or act like 5 year old's and I can't be like that anymore. I still act like the same fourteen year old girl I was when I started dating him, it's time I started growing up."

Santana shuffled along the couch towards Brittany and took one of her hands.

"You don't need to get this worked up about this, Britt."

She called her 'Britt' again. Brittany's heart pounded.

"Why don't you tell Sam this? Maybe things will change."

Brittany welled up and she found it hard to speak.

"That's the thing, Santana. I can't talk to Sam about this. I've never been able too. I've never been able to tell him how I really feel, but I didn't realize it was a problem, until now."

A tear fell from the blonde's eye. She used her free hand to wipe it away and squeezed Santana's hand tighter with the other.

Santana gave her a sympathetic look, "Why now, Brittany? What's changed."

Brittany knew what had changed. Santana had came along. Santana came along and actually treated her like more than just a playmate and sex toy. Santana took the little time she had spent with her getting to know her. Santana made her feel like a grown up and not a child. She had told Brittany about her dreams and asked her about her family. No one had ever done this. _Sam_ had never done this. Brittany wanted to tell Santana all of this, she wanted to know if Santana felt the same way, but she couldn't. "I don't know." Was all she could say.

Santana exhaled, let go of Brittany's hand and sat back in her original position.

"Well look, One Tree Hill is on in a few minutes. Are we going to watch it? I mean, it is our thing, right?"

Brittany wiped her nose with the back of her hand and smiled, "Yeah, of course we're going to watch it."

Brittany jumped off the couch and went to switch the TV on. Santana spun around so her feet were on the floor and she was facing the TV. Brittany sat back down next to Santana and there was only a small gap separating the them. Santana took a deep breath and then nudged the other girl with her elbow and looked down at her hand, she was holding her pinky out. Brittany looked back up into the girl's eyes and smiled, hooking her own pinky into Santana's and sitting back.

Brittany told Santana that she had watched the episode they missed last week and then proceeded to tell her what had happened. They then sat in silence for the next hour, even during commercial breaks, and watched the episode with their pinkies linked.

* * *

Santana woke up on Sunday morning with butterflies in her stomach. They had been there since yesterday afternoon. After her and Brittany had finished watching yesterday's episode Brittany paid Santana and she left. Brittany didn't hug her this time, but they had spent an hour with their pinkies linked and that was good enough for Santana. Santana knew now, full well, that she had strong feelings for this girl. Feelings that grew everyday. It scared Santana a bit, because Brittany didn't know she was gay, and she didn't know how Brittany would feel if she told her. She had already seen Brittany in her panties and had purposely flirted with her on more than one occasion. If she told Brittany she was gay now, it might freak it her out. But she knew that she had to tell her eventually.

* * *

Sam walked into the living room, Brittany had already been up for 2 hours and she had already showered and got dressed. Sam made his way over to the couch and sat next to her. They hadn't spoke last night, Sam went straight out for drinks with Finn and Puck and she went to bed before he got home. Brittany slept well last night. The best she'd slept in a while, actually and she felt much happier this morning.

"Hi." Sam said, sitting as far down the couch as he could.

"Hey." Brittany returned.

"You feeling better today?"

"A little."

Sam turned his head to face her, "So are you going to tell me what was wrong?"

She inhaled. "Nothing was wrong, Sam, I told you. I just had a bad couple of days."

"Well, why?"

"I don't know. I feel better now anyway."

"OK, good."

It didn't go unnoticed how easily Sam was willing to forget that everything had happened. He didn't seem to care at all that Brittany had just spent 5 days in the worst and most un-Brittany mood ever. He didn't pressure her into tell him, because he didn't care.

"So what did you do last night? I got in pretty early and you were already in bed."

"I didn't do anything, Santana came and cleaned and she stayed for a while then I ate some dinner, watched TV and went to bed."

Sam nodded, "Oh, that's boring."

Brittany ignored him, "How come you came home early, anyway? You always stay out late when you're with Puck and Finn and I thought after you'd been told you got a gig you'd be celebrating."

"Well, that was the plan. But I'm only 20 and usually the guys at the bar are fine letting me in and giving me drinks because Finn and Puck are both 22, but the owner was there last night or something so they were acting all strict towards me. It ruined the whole night, so I told them to stay out and celebrate for me and I came home."

"Oh. Well, I'm going to my Mom's soon. My sister's coming home for a week so she wants me to be there when she arrives. You can come too if you want."

"I can't, I'm going over to Finn's and we're spending the day preparing a set and rehearsing."

"Oh, OK."

Sam stood up off the couch, "I'm gonna go and shower. So, in case you're gone before I get out," He walked over to Brittany and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you. Say 'Hi' to your parents and Katie for me."

Brittany forced a smile, "I will. See you later."

Brittany spent the rest of the day at her parents house. She got to catch up with her sister and let her Mom and Dad know how everything with work was going. It was good for Brittany to spend some time with her family, it helped her forget about the week she'd just had. Her sister announced that her boyfriend had proposed so most of the day was devoted to talking about that. Brittany was glad though because no one bothered asking about Sam and she weren't in the mood to talk about him. By the time she got home that night, Sam was already in bed. She tried her best not to wake him as she slid in beside him and went to sleep.


	5. I need your love so bad

"Hello?"

A woman said down the phone, in a very Spanish accent. Brittany guessed it was Santana's mom. It was obvious Santana was Spanish, she was tanned, dark haired and rolled her R's sometimes, but Brittany was shocked at how thick the woman's accent was on the phone.

"Um, Hi. Is Santana home?"

"Oh, yes. Who's speaking please?"

"My name's Brittany."

"OK dear, one second."

Brittany heard the woman shout her from upstairs, then when Santana got to the phone she heard the muffled conversation between the two of them. She wasn't quite sure but she thought she heard the woman say "Is this your girlfriend?" to Santana, and then was slightly disappointed when she heard Santana return a very sure "No!" to the woman, before getting on the phone.

"Brittany?" Santana said.

"Yes, it's me. Hi, I wanted to catch you before you went to work."

"How did you get my number?"

Brittany started to worry that Santana didn't want her to call, she started regretting calling in the first place.

"Sam has it." She spat out, "From when he hired you, he has your details."

"Oh." Santana suddenly sounded more at ease "So, what's up?"

"Um..." Brittany was so nervous, she just wanted to slam the phone down and forget she ever called. "I just... I was wondering if you wanted to grab coffee tomorrow after work? We both finish at six thirty so I thought we could go to the Lima Bean...again."

Santana answered in no more than a second, "Sure!"

Brittany was so relieved, she was sure the girl would say no.

"Oh great. That's great."

They were both silent for a minute, Brittany could hear Santana breathing down the phone. She thought again about the 'girlfriend' comment the other woman had just made and was confused. Why would she say something like that? Why would she even think that? She had never met Brittany and by the sounds of it she had never even heard of her. Had Santana ever spoken about her? She seemed to talk about Santana all the time, or so it felt.

Santana cleared her throat at the other end of the line. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Tomorrow. See you then. Bye Santana."

"Bye Brittany."

Santana hung up. Brittany held the phone at her ear for a second and grinned. She said yes. The 'girlfriend' thing crossed her mind again. What the hell did that mean?! Brittany put the phone down and skipped to the couch to watch TV.

When Brittany returned home from work later on, Sam was already there. He was sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching a football game.

He turned to face her with a hand full of popcorn in his mouth. "Hey." He said, spitting half of them out.

"God, Sam." Brittany sighed.

He finished eating the rest of the popcorn and frowned "What?"

"Could you just try to be cleaner, please?" She walked straight past him and headed for the bedroom.

"Jeez, I'm sorry. But I was pretty sure we had a cleaner for that." He said raising his voice as she got further into the bedroom.

Brittany walked back in a few minutes later, she was fixing her hair and had taken off her sweatshirt, leaving it in the bedroom.

"Yes, I know we do. But that doesn't mean you should just make a mess because you can."

"OK, sorry Mom!"

Brittany rolled her eyes and sat down next to him.

"Speaking of Santana," Sam turned to look at her "I'll be home late tomorrow, we're going for coffee."

"Me and you?" Sam asked

Brittany snarled him, "No. Me and Santana."

Sam raised an eyebrow "You're going for coffee...with our cleaner?"

She frowned at him. "Sam, she's not just our cleaner, she's my friend."

"OK Britt, whatever. But tomorrow's my day off, I was hoping we'd do something together."

"Like what?" She said, taking a handful of popcorn.

"I dunno, play video games or go see a movie or something."

That was expected considering that's all they ever do.

"Sam, we do that all the time. I've already made plans with Santana, I'm sorry."

It was weird to Brittany how irritated Sam made her lately. She knew it was her fault though. It was her feelings for Santana that made her this way. Because Sam was everything Santana wasn't, they were complete opposites and it irritated her that Sam couldn't be more like Santana.

Sam sighed, "OK, fine."

* * *

Santana looked up at Mercedes who was sitting across from her. They were on a break and had gone for smoothies at the place across the street.

"Guess what?"

"What?" Mercedes looked up from her cup.

"Brittany called me yesterday." Santana smirked.

Mercedes eyes widened "And you're only telling me this now?!"

"Sorry!"

"Well, what did she say."

"Not much, she asked me to go for coffee after work today."

"She asked you on a date?!" Mercedes shouted, leaning forward.

"Mercedes!" Santana blushed. "It is not a date! She just wants to talk, I guess."

"Why are you blushing if it's not a date?"

"Shut up! I am not blushing. It's not a date, OK. I've told you, she's straight and she has a boyfriend."

"That's never stopped you." Mercedes laughed.

"Brittany's different."

"Different than what?"

"Different than random, drunk girls in high school who want to experiment!"

Mercedes laughed again.

"Why are you laughing? I don't see what's funny about this."

"I'm sorry, but it's hilarious. You falling for a little straight, white girl who's too dumb to spot someone as gay as you."

"Don't call her dumb." Santana replied bluntly. "And besides, I'm not falling for her. I have a little crush, that's all."

"A little crush? Girl, you've just nearly attacked me for calling her dumb." Mercedes said, still laughing.

"OK Mercedes! Maybe it's more than a little crush but whatever. Just stop laughing at me. It's pissing me off!" Santana exhaled and then furrowed her eyebrows, "What was that supposed to mean anyway? Someone as gay as me?"

Mercedes bit her lip to hold in her laugh, "Come on we gotta get back to work."

Santana rolled her eyes and mimicked the other girl as she stood up.

* * *

Brittany walked into the Lima Bean and scanned the room. She spotted Santana who was sitting in the corner, looking out of the window. She walked over, noticing that there were already two cups on the table.

"You bought my drink?" She said as she approached the table.

Santana turned her head to look at Brittany. "Yeah, Caramel Frappachino right?"

Brittany smiled, "Yep, that's right." She said and sat down opposite the girl.

"How was work?" Santana asked, "You look worn out." She laughed.

"Yeah. The kids are doing this paired thing as part of their routine and Mike and I had to demonstrate like 10 times before they got it, and then I had to run them through the whole thing at the end. So, I'm pretty tired now. I probably look gross."

Brittany put her head down slightly.

Santana shook her head. "You look great."

Brittany took a sip of her drink and then looked back up at Santana who was looking at her still.

"So, was there anything you wanted to ask me? I mean, I just wondered why you asked me here." Santana asked.

Brittany scratched her forehead while she thought of something remotely normal to say. "Um, no. I just wanted something to do I guess." She shrugged "I don't have many friends ever since all mine went away to college. Sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Making you think I needed you for something." Brittany frowned.

"No, Britt. I'm glad you asked I just thought you wanted to talk to me about Sam or something. It's nice that you just wanted to hang out though, thank you."

Brittany smiled.

"So, speaking of Sam." Santana said. "Are you guys okay now? Did you speak to him."

Brittany shook her head, "Not exactly. We are on speaking terms but I didn't really speak to him, I didn't know what to say."

"Oh, I won't pressure you into telling me anything about you both. But, just know that I'm here if you need anything."

They smiled at one another and Brittany nodded.

"Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"There was something I wanted to ask you and it's going to sound really weird but it's been on my mind since I called you yesterday."  
Santana raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Brittany let out a nervous laugh. "Um, well when you were talking to the woman who answered the phone to me - you're Mom I guess - she said something. To you. She said, um...Well I think she said was I... She asked if I was your girlfriend?"

Santana felt her cheeks burn. She had no idea Brittany had heard that. She had been wanting to tell her she was gay, and now she had to do it and it was far more nerve-wracking than she had imagined.

Santana shook her head "Oh, Brittany she didn't mean...I mean, she thought I guess...But I told her you weren't and I..." She stuttered.

Brittany looked at her blankly did she really have no clue what Santana was trying to say. "Look, Brittany." Santana exhaled. "I'm gay." She said, scrunching her eyes.

They both sat looking at each other. Brittany gulped down the rest of her drink and stared at Santana, wide eyed.

"Oh, OK!" Brittany said, forcing a smile.

Santana squinted again, "That doesn't freak you out?"

Brittany shook her head "Why would it?"

"I dunno, you looked pretty surprised at first."

"Well I was, I wasn't expecting that. But it doesn't freak me out. Promise."

Santana exhaled "OK, good!"

They both went quiet for a while. Brittany would occasionally look at Santana and smile. Santana took it as an "I'm not freaked out, I swear." and it relieved her a little bit. When she had finished her drink, Santana got really fidgety. She had been dying to ask Brittany for her number but after what she'd just told her she was unsure whether now was the right time.

"Are you OK?" Brittany said, frowning at her. "You look really nervous about something."

Santana cleared her throat.

"Um...Look, I don't know if this is inappropriate given what I've just told you, but can I have like your phone number or email address or something?" She paused for a second and watched the girls reaction then quickly added, "You know? In case we want to do something like this again."

Brittany grinned. "Sure! That would be great. What's your cell number?" She said pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

"Uh actually, I don't have a cell phone. Trying to save up." She shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "But here, I have a pen from work." She reached into her pocket, took out a pen and handed it to Brittany. "Just write down your number on this napkin, I can call you from my home phone." She pushed a napkin towards Brittany who started writing down her number.

"OK, well here's my home number and cell number. So, you can call me like whenever." She smiled and pushed the napkin back towards Santana who folded it and put it in her pocket.

"Thanks." Santana looked back up to face the other girl. "Oh! I almost forgot to ask. How was it? Seeing your sister?"

Brittany tilted her head at Santana and smiled, she couldn't believe she remembered, let alone cared. "It was great! My sister got engaged. My Mom and Dad were super excited. I told them all how work was going. But, we just really spent the night talking about my sister and her engagement and babies and stuff."

"Aw that sounds nice, you must be really happy for her."

Brittany shook her head, "Look enough about me, we always talk about me."

Santana giggled "We always talk about me."

"No, we never do! All I know about you is that your moving to New York in a few weeks to be a singer. Oh! and I know all of your jobs."

"Well that's all there is to know. All I do is work and save."

"Nope! I mean really about you. Like, where about did you grow up? What are your parents like? Do you have any brothers and sisters?"

Santana laughed and hummed a little while she thought of how to answer.

"Well, I'm from..." She blushed slightly, she wasn't ashamed of where she grew up, it just got a different reaction from different people. And with Brittany being the most innocent looking person she'd ever seen, so Santana imagined that she was told horror stories about Lima Heights Adjacent growing up. "Do you know Lima Heights?" She leaned forward slightly and squinted her eyes while she waited for a reply from the other girl.

Brittany gulped, "You mean Lima Heights Adjacent? The place were there's a drive by shooting, daily?"

"Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration but yeah, that's the one." Santana laughed.

Brittany grinned "Well, I've gotta tell you. You give Lima Heights a much better name." She winked, making Santana's cheeks their usual shade of pink.

"Well, thanks." Santana hid her face slightly before she continued. "And my parents? They're pretty normal, I guess. They don't make too much money, my Mom works in a grocery store and my Dad's a taxi driver. As for siblings, nope, none." She shrugged.

Brittany looked at her sincerely. "Your parents are gonna be pretty bummed when you go then, right? They're gonna be all alone."

"Yeah, I guess. But, they know it's what I want, you know?"

Brittany nodded, "Have you ever had second thoughts about going?"

Santana bit her bottom lip and looked directly at the blonde. "Um, lately I've questioned it a lot, to myself." Her voice was softer now. "I wonder if it's just a stupid dream and it's never actually going to happen and-"

"Hey, don't think like that. I know that you're good enough, and I've never even heard you." Brittany said, cutting her off and giving her the most warming smile Santana had ever been given. "Oh and that's going to change before you go, by the way. I have to hear you sing!"

Santana returned the smile, "OK, it's a deal. But only if I get to see you dance."

"Deal." Brittany nodded. She then turned her attention to the clock which read 7:35. They had been talking for nearly an hour and it only felt like they had been here for 15 minutes. "God, look at the time. Have you even eaten?"

Santana turned her head to look at the time. Her eyes widened. "Jeez!" She looked back at the other girl, "I didn't think we'd been here that long. No I haven't ate."

"Me neither." Brittany tilted her head, "You think we should go?"

"Yeah, I guess."

The two of them stood up and Brittany led the way to her car. She turned and looked at Santana, remembering the last time they were here and she made a complete fool of herself by hugging the girl like a maniac.

"Thanks for calling, I had a great time." Santana said as they stopped by the car.

"Me too. Bye Santana." Brittany smiled

"Bye Brittany."

Santana turned and went to walk away but was stopped by the other girl who grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back around.

"Santana!"

Santana was caught completely off guard she just stared at the other girl who was stuttering in front of her.

"Um... I...I just..." Brittany cleared her through and let go off Santana's wrist "Um, sorry. I just wanted to know if you wanted me to give you a ride home?"

Santana felt her heart beating in her chest, she wondered if Brittany was just trying to be nice or if there was a part of her that felt the same way she did. She wondered if Brittany felt what she felt between them. She wondered if they could be anything more or if it was all just an illusion. Santana took herself out of her thoughts for a second to answer the girl.

"Sure. Thank you. That would be great."

They smiled at each other and got in either side of the car.

The ride to Santana's was pretty quiet and short. Santana didn't live far from the Lima Bean, it was even closer to her house than Breadstix was. The only conversation they had was Santana telling Brittany which roads to turn down. They turned down into Santana's street and pulled up outside her house.

Santana cleared her throat, "Thank you." She said, smiling.

"It's no trouble." Brittany shrugged.

"I'll see you soon then?"

"Yep!"

"OK, well, bye Brittany."

"Bye Santana."

The two girls exchanged small smiles before Santana stumbled out of the car and made her way into her house. She immediately walked up to her room and threw herself on the bed. She lay there for a few minutes with her eyes closed, before remembering that she had Brittany's number in her pocket. She reached inside, pulled out the napkin and opened it out to look at it. There were two numbers written down as well as "Britt" with a heart next to it. Santana got butterflies. There was a small part of her that told her that Brittany did feel the same. That all the flirty things she did weren't by accident. But then there was the other huge part of her that told her to stop being a dumb fuck and realize that Brittany is as straight as an arrow and has a boyfriend and is just super friendly. Santana groaned and stood up off the bed. She put the napkin on her bedside table and went to get food before she passed out.

* * *

Brittany woke up in the best mood. Sam hadn't left for work yet and was in the kitchen making breakfast. She sat on the couch and began flicking through the channels. When Brittany had finally decided on a channel, Sam walked in holding two plates. He walked around the couch and placed one on Brittany's knee, kissed her on the forehead and sat down next to her with his own.

"Thanks." Brittany said.

Sam said nothing. Instead he began shoveling food into his mouth.

"So, have you heard anything else from that guy?"

"What guy?" He mumbled through a mouth full of food.

"The guy that give you the gig."

"Oh yeah, he called Finn to confirm that we were still going next Friday and Saturday."

"And you are, right?"

"Of course. I was supposed to tell you actually I won't be back that weekend. Me and the guys are probably going to be drinking, so we decided we should probably just get a motel over there so we don't have to drive back."

"Oh OK, that's fine."

"You don't mind staying on your own for the weekend? I probably won't get back till Sunday afternoon."

"No, I'll be OK."

"OK, good."

The two went back to eating there breakfast. When they had finished, Sam took both plates and put them coffee table in front of him and sat back on the couch.

"Britt, you think maybe we could go out on Friday? I miss you."

"Sam?" She looked at him in confusion, "You see me everyday."

"I mean, I miss you in every way. I've hardly seen you for weeks and we barely even kiss anymore." He put his head back on the couch and turned it to face Brittany.

Brittany's stomach turned. He was right. They hadn't kissed in so long. She thought that maybe a night out with him would do them some good. Maybe they'd have fun and she'd be reminded of what she loved about him. Maybe she'd finally stop thinking about Santana for 5 minutes and talk to Sam about what's been going on with her.

"I know. We should definitely go out." She smiled

Sam grinned, he leaned over to Brittany and pecked her on the lips. When he pulled away, Brittany smiled at him.

"I should get going. I've got a client soon. I love you, Britt." He said, standing up off the couch.

Brittany cleared her throat, "I love you too." She replied, as positive as she could sound.

When Sam left Brittany turned the TV off and sat in silence. She thought over everything. It started playing on her mind that her feelings towards Santana weren't what she thought, that maybe they weren't romantic feelings but more of a wake up call that she wants more. She might have just been jealous that Santana was moving forward in her life and her and Sam weren't. If she connected with Sam in the way that they used to she might finally be able to start opening up to him about these things. She actually started looking forward to this night out. It was a chance for her to spend some time with Sam outside of their small apartment, surrounded by things that could remind her of Santana.

* * *

Friday rolled around quicker than Brittany had expected. She was on her way home from work and was beginning to regret agreeing to go out. She hadn't seen or spoken to Santana for the rest of the week, but that hadn't stopped her thinking about her. She seemed to miss Santana whenever they weren't together, she missed hearing her laugh or watching how she played with her hands when she got nervous, she did that a lot. She thought about Sam a lot that week, too. It was more forced than when she thought about Santana though. When she thought of Santana it was by accident, it was because something had reminded her of Santana or because she was missing her. But, when she thought of Sam it was because she had just accidentally thought of Santana and forced herself to think of him. She pulled up outside their apartment building and made her way inside. Sam was in their bedroom getting dressed.

"Hey." Brittany shouted from the living room, making her way towards the bedroom.

"Hey babe." He called back.

Brittany pushed open the bedroom door and popped her head inside.

"You're getting dressed now?"

Sam turned to face her.

"Yeah, I just got out the shower, you should probably get in now, we have dinner reservations at eight thirty."

"We're going for dinner? I thought we were going out to drink?"

"Well, we are. But we can go for dinner first, right?"

Brittany forced a smile, "Yeah, absolutely."

* * *

Santana arrived at work and had never felt less like singing in her life. She had a horrible day already and was exhausted. She had her set prepared and just wanted to get it over and done with. The bar was quite crowded tonight and it was only early, she was hoping it wouldn't get much more packed. Santana made her way up onto stage after she'd finished talking to the house band about the songs she'd be doing. She began fixing the mic stand and rolled her eyes when the usual wolf whistles came from the crowd of drunk, grown men. She cleared her throat and began her first song of the night - I'll take care of you by Bobby Bland.

* * *

Brittany and Sam stood walked up through the parking lot towards the bar. This was going to be there last attempt to get in somewhere after they'd been rejected by 5 other places in the last hour and a half. It was already 11.30 PM and they hadn't even had one drink yet.

"Sam, what is this place?"

"Probably the only place that will let us in, Britt."

"Yeah, well I told you we should have gotten better IDs."

"Brittany, they're fake. And when you wear dresses that make you look like a 5 year old, it's pretty hard to get in anywhere."

Brittany frowned and didn't say anything as they neared the man on the door. She reached in her bag to take out her ID and took a deep breath. The man shone a small torch on both her and Sam's IDs and motioned his head inside to let them know they could go in. When they got inside there was a long hallway in which they could choose to go through either of two doors. Both rooms where crowded with drunk, middle aged men and both didn't seem at all appealing to Brittany. Sam looked through the window on the left door and noticed a girl on stage in the far back of the room.

"Hey Britt! They have live entertainment in here. Shall we go in?"

Brittany rolled her eyes, "I guess."

The two walked into the room and Brittany looked around, no one was singing. The girl who was supposed to be singing had her back to everyone while she was talking to the guitar player.

Sam nudged Brittany in the side. "Britt, you want a beer?"

Brittany nodded, "I'm gonna sit here." She pointed to an empty table at the back of the room.

"OK."

Sam walked to the bar to get the drinks and Brittany went and sat down. She looked down at her dress. She didn't think she looked like a 5 year old. Her dress was light pink and sequined and she had a pair of silver, glittery heels on. She actually thought she looked quite old.

Brittany lifted her head up when she heard the music starting to play. The girl on stage was still facing the opposite way and was swaying to the beat of the music. When it was time for the girl to start singing, she turned around and Brittany's jaw dropped. There was a single spotlight shone on the girl's face. Brittany continued staring as she heard the raspy, familiar tone come from her mouth.

_"Need someone's hand to lead me through the night"_

It was Santana.

_"I need someone's arms to hold and squeeze me tight_  
_Now, when the night begins, I'm at an end_  
_Because I need your love so bad."_

Brittany couldn't believe it. Her mouth was still wide open. Santana continued to sway, she sung with her eyes shut and her two hands hovering just in front of her stomach. She was amazing. Her voice was stunning_._

_"I need some lips to feel next to mine_  
_I need someone to stand up and tell me when I'm lyin'_  
_And when the lights are low and it's time to go_  
_That's when I need your love so bad_  
_So why don't you give it up and bring it home to me_  
_Or write it on a piece of paper, baby, so it can be read to me_  
_Tell me that you love me and stop drivin' me mad."_

Brittany's heart began thumping in her chest. The lyrics in this song rang so true to her. She felt as though Santana knew she was there and was singing it to her.

_"Whoa, because I - I need your love so bad_  
_Need a soft voice to talk to me at night_  
_I don't want you to worry, baby_  
_I know we can make everything alright_  
_Listen to my plea, baby, bring it to me_  
_Because I need your love so bad."_

The song finished and Brittany didn't stop staring at Santana, who hadn't even realized she was there. Brittany's heart was beating so hard and she felt like she couldn't breath. She had just spent 3 hours avoiding any thought of her and now that all felt pointless because now Santana was stood only feet away from Brittany singing those words.

"God, there's so many people in here, I thought I'd never get served." Sam said as he slammed two beers down on the table, bringing Brittany back to reality. She looked at him and gulped then let out a small laugh. She picked up one of the beers in front of her and starting swigging it. Her mouth was so dry.

Sam came to sit down next to her.

"Santana." Brittany spat out.

Sam was taken aback "What?"

Brittany shook her head, "Uh...I mean, did you see the singer?"

"No, I was getting our drinks. I heard her though, she was great."

"Well, it was um, Santana." Brittany finished off her drink. "I need another drink. You want one?"

"No, Britt I haven't even started this one. Why did you drink it so fast?"

"I was thirsty. Be right back."

She stood up of her chair and stormed to the bar, avoiding to look in Santana's direction. When she reached the bar there was a long queue, she heard the music start back up behind her. She did her best to drown it out by humming to herself. It didn't work for very long but the line was moving which was helped distract her. She looked over at Sam who was tapping his foot along to the music and she felt guilty again. She had almost gone a full night without thinking about someone else while she was with him and now it was all she could do, because the person who she's always thinking of when she's with him was standing in front of them both singing the most beautiful song ever. Brittany couldn't deny it anymore. She liked Santana in a way she'd never liked another girl, in a way she'd only ever felt about guys. But her feelings for guys had never been this strong. Not even her feelings for Sam.

"What can I get you, Blondie?" A man said from behind the bar, clearing his throat.

She needed something strong. She ordered 4 Sambuca shots and knocked them back straight away and then she asked for two double vodka and cokes and took them back to the table.

"Santana's good right." Sam said, turning to her as she sat down.

"Mhm, awesome." Brittany nodded, sipping her first drink.

When Santana finished her song both Sam and Brittany clapped, along with everyone else.

"We're taking a 15 minute break guys. Thanks." Santana said down the mic.

Brittany finished off her first drink and then downed her second while Sam wasn't paying attention. She stood up and fixed her dress.

"I'm gonna go see Santana." She said, fixing her hair and exhaling.

"Cool, I'll come with you." Sam grinned.

Brittany didn't say anything as Sam followed her over to the girl.

"Santana, hey!" She shouted.

Santana turned and looked in surprise when she noticed who it was. "Oh, hey Brittany."

"Hi Santana." Sam said awkwardly.

"Hey Sam." She smiled.

"You were great." He said, with a small nod.

Brittany snarled him, she could feel the drinks slowly going to her head.

Santana looked at Brittany, "So, what brings you guys here? Doesn't really seem like your kind of place."

"Sam said...Um he said that I look like a baby so we couldn't get in anywhere else."

Santana laughed, "You don't look like a baby."

"I didn't mean it like that, Brittany." Sam interrupted, trying to redeem himself.

"Whatever Sam. Maybe I should dress hot like Santana, huh? Then maybe I wouldn't need a fake ID at all, right?" She was slurring a little.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed, "When did I say that Santana looked hot?"

Santana looked down at the floor.

"You didn't Sam, I just did." Brittany snapped.

"Oh." He had no idea what was happening.

"Anyway, Santana!" Brittany said.

Santana raised her head. "Yeah."

"You're a really good singer. I was glad I got to see you."

Santana giggled "Thank you, Brittany,"

"Santana." Brittany paused for a second. The drinks were taking there toll, she began swaying on the spot. "What song was that you were singing before?"

"Which song?" Santana asked.

"The...the song that you sang...before the last song, that you sang."

Santana laughed, "How much have you had to drink, Britt?"

Brittany giggled, "Not much. It's funny when you call me Britt."

Santana looked at Sam and shrugged.

"Brittany, what have you had?" Sam said putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Um...I had some shots at the bar and then I got some vodka!"

Sam let go of her and turned to look at Santana. "I'm going to take her home, you were great though."

"Thanks." She said, then turned to Brittany "I'll see you tomorrow, Brittany."

"I can't wait, Santana."

Santana laughed as Sam took her by the arm and walked her out the door.

He lay Brittany down on the back seat and jumped in the front of the car. "Britt, are you OK?" he called out to her as he started the car.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stop exaggerating." She moaned.

"I'm not. You just get drunk too easily. Why did you drink that much so quick?"

"I was scared."

"What? Scared of what?"

Brittany sat herself up "Just scared." Her head felt back. "I love you, you know Sammy. I swear."

"I know you do." He said laughing.

"I swear." She mumbled to herself again.

When Sam pulled up outside their building he opened the door for Brittany and she dragged herself out of the car. She stumbled behind him up the stairs and he opened their door and let her inside.

"Sam!" She moaned.

"What Britt?"

She turned around and swung her hands around his neck. He kicked the door shut as Brittany leaned in to kiss him. She forced her tongue into his mouth and he responded by doing the same. She flicked her shoes off and backed up into the bedroom forcing her mouth onto Sam's, still. When they got outside the door she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist, he carried her into the bedroom and slammed the door behind them.

* * *

Brittany lay awake in bed. As well as being hung-over, she felt empty. It was as though someone had gone inside her body and ripped all of the feeling out of her. She didn't know what to do. Sam didn't have work today, a client had cancelled on him, so he was showering. That meant that Santana, Sam and Brittany were all going to be here, together. She couldn't do it. She couldn't face Santana after last night and she didn't want to be around Sam either. She got herself out of bed and went into the living room to make something to eat.

While she was eating, Sam came out of the bathroom looking happy as ever. "Good morning, Britt!" He grinned, walking over and kissing her on the cheek.

Brittany cringed, "Morning. Mike called me before, he needs me to go in and help today." She lied.

"Did you tell him you were hung over?"

"He needs me Sam, like you said, he did me a favor giving me this job. I can't just say no."

Sam frowned, "OK Britt. Don't over do it though, you'll end up puking."

"I won't."

Brittany got dressed and made her way out. Her plan was to go to the studio and dance for a while. It always helped and she needed to get out of the house while Santana was there anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity.

* * *

Santana let herself into the apartment, expecting that Brittany would still be in bed when she got there. She opened the door and was caught by surprise when Sam turned to face her from the couch.

"Oh hi." She said.

"Hey."

"No Brittany?" She asked looking around

"Nope. Mike called her in, I got cancelled on, so it's just me and you today." He grinned.

"Awesome." Santana muttered to herself, sarcastically.

She did the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom first so she didn't have to engage in awkward conversation with Sam. It didn't take her very long though. Each room was still getting gradually cleaner each time she went.

When it came to doing the living room, Sam wasn't shy on making conversation.

"So, you sing in the bar every week?"

"Yeah, every Friday." Santana kept her attention on everything but him.

"I've never been there before it's a cool place."

Santana scoffed, "Yeah, if you're 45. Why did you two even go?"

"They knew Brittany's ID was fake in all the other places we tried."

Santana laughed, "No wonder she was eager to drink so much!"

"I'm actually really embarrassed about that." He said, rubbing his eye.

Santana stopped cleaning and faced him, "Why? Are you embarrassed of Brittany?"

"Well yeah, she acted stupid."

Santana's tone turned more stern. "She was drunk, you need to lighten up." She felt like slapping him for calling her stupid.

Sam got nervous, he didn't even know her and here she was shouting at her for saying something about his own girlfriend. "No, I mean, I wouldn't have been embarrassed if we knew you."

"I do know Brittany! I know her very well, actually." She crossed her arms, "Just because you don't know me, doesn't mean she doesn't!"

"Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend or anything, I'm just saying."

"Well don't. Brittany is amazing and you're lucky to have her. You shouldn't be ashamed of her at all."

"I'm not."

Santana scoffed and went back to what she was doing. Sam avoided making conversation with her until she had finished.

"Thank you." He said, handing her 25 dollars.

"No problem. Tell Brittany I'm gonna call her tomorrow."

"OK, I will."

Santana turned and left.

* * *

Brittany sat by the phone on Sunday afternoon. Sam had said Santana was going to call and she was eager to speak to her after she'd gotten over what had happened on Friday night. The dancing had helped. When she got home the afternoon before, she spoke to Sam and apologized for how she acted. He didn't say much, the only thing Brittany really remembers him saying was "Well, at least the night ended well." which made her stomach turn. She didn't want to hear about it. She felt so different afterwards compared to how she used to. It didn't feel right anymore, it felt dirty and like she was doing something wrong. It made her feel guilty even though there was nothing to be guilty about. Sam was her boyfriend, they were supposed to have sex.

Brittany jumped when he cell phone began to ring. She hesitated but answered.

"Hello."

"Hey Brittany, it's Santana."

"Oh hi. What's up?" She said, acting like she didn't already know she was going to call.

"I just wanted to know how you are?"

"I'm good. I wanted to apologize for the other night."

Santana laughed, "There's nothing to apologize for, you were hysterical. I wish you would've stayed longer."

Brittany giggled "Sam didn't seem to think so."

"Oh who cares what he thinks." She laughed. "Actually, Brittany. I was calling to see if you wanted to go for a coffee again after work tomorrow?"

Brittany grinned, "Yeah, sure that would be great."

"OK, good because I really need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow, I gotta go now though. So, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh OK. See you tomorrow. Bye, Santana."

"Bye, Brittany."


End file.
